The Chesnee Eagles will take the field on August 28th to begin Head Coach Brett Chappell’s third season at the helm of the program. Coming off of a 5-5 regular season and a first round exit in the 2A playoffs, the Eagles have a refreshed, more local non-region schedule to look forward to and a juiced up region with holdovers Clinton and Landrum being joined by 3A drop-downs MVP, Woodruff, and Southside Christian.
The 2026 season features less travel in the non-region schedule than previous seasons in the first slate that Chappell was able to put together himself in his tenure. Chesnee plays two non-region away games inside of 40 minutes each way.
“We really wanted to address travel with the non-region, last year we had quite a few games with long travel and one of our priorities was trying to fix that,” Chappell said. “We did a really good job of trying to keep our fans and parents close too, and in order to do that we needed to have Week 1 open.”
When you include region away games, the Eagles longest bus ride is about 35 miles each to Southside Christian and North Greenville University (where they will play MVP). Last year saw road games at Liberty and Walhalla, both over an hour and twenty minutes away.
Chappell points to James Davis as a leadership candidate on his defense who arrived to the varsity late in 2025, and now will have responsibility to produce both on the defensive end and offensive line in his junior season. Chesnee could have at least seven players on both offense and defense including Davis.
“Our offseason has been really good and really active,” Chappell said. “We’ve preached more so than anything getting a ton of reps, it’s been really productive.”
QB Evan Lawter returns after introducing himself in 2025 as a dynamic dual-threat weapon, primarily beating defenses with his legs but also finding deep ball connections through the air. His top target from last season departs, and the production is expected to be filled in by returners Bryce Horton and Ben Hefner as well as Marquez Franklin and newcomer Christian Bryan, who Chappell was very encouraged by in the spring.
Cody Breitenbach and Oscar Paniagua are returning all-region players on the lines of scrimmage, and will be blocking in the run game for the two leading rushers off of last years squad in Lawter and Blake Cochran. Chappell also pointed to sophomore Bry’Mier Miller who joined the varsity midseason in 2025 as a key cog to the attack in 2026.
“Cochran was limited late last season and has had a good offseason,” Chappell said. “Miller moved up late in the season last year and is going to be a special player for us.”
After a Week 1 bye, Chesnee opens the season at home against a yearly opponent in Broome, who suffered an overtime loss against the Centurions last season and look for their first win against Broome since 2016. To begin September, Chesnee stays at home for its first game against Columbia since the 2007 playoffs. Non-region play continues with road games at border-rival RS Central (NC) and former region opponent Blacksburg, and finishes at home on September 25 against Blue Ridge.
“You’re not dipping your toe in the water in those first three games,” Chappell said. “We’ve got to stay healthy in the non-region, and I feel good about what our kids are capable of.
Now in Region 2-2A, Chesnee hits the road for the first region matchup against MVP at North Greenville. A tough opener in region play is followed by two more tough ones at home against Clinton and Woodruff. Southside Christian follows on the road and the annual game against Landrum is also away from home to wrap up the regular season on October 30.
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